Stormwater Run-off Challenge

Join us in our Stormwater Run-off Challenge!

Did you know that water that goes into storm drains
on your street travels through pipes to the river? And that stormwater
goes straight to the
river untreated?

In this Challenge you will be asked to investigate what happens to the water that runs off of your livestock pen, vegetable garden or yard, and how you can make sure that it does not pollute the Kansas River. You will be asked to document which of your activities
might increase the amount of polluted stormwater running off your
project and to develop a plan to reduce it. There are many possible
solutions to reducing pollution from stormwater run-off and we want to encourage you to find creative new ways to tackle this old problem. Some of the observations we would like you to make at the very beginning are:

When water runs off your property, where does the run-off go? Does it flow directly into a stream? A pond? A stormwater drain on your street? Then where does it go?

Do you know what a watershed
is, and which watershed you live in?* Can you find it on a map? Does
your watershed drain into the Kansas River or the Missouri River?

*You can find your watershed (and a lot of other information) by going to the Johnson County web mapper
and entering your address in the Quick Map box on the right hand side
(it will give your watershed in the Stormwater/Flood information box
about half way down the page). Click here for a map of the Kansas River watershed in Johnson County and click here for information about whether your community is in the Kansas River or Missouri River watersheds, and a lot of other information about the connections your community has with the river.